I love being left-handed.
It’s something that has set me apart from a lot of people in the things I do every day, such as playing my bass guitar, drawing a picture or even using a fork and knife. I also love the fact that a few of my favorite musicians - Jimi Hendrix , Kurt Cobain, and Tony Iommi – are famous, left-handed rock-and-roll idols. Being left-handed is also a sign that the right side of my brain plays a huge role in how I deal with solving problems and the world around me.
A few characteristics found in people who tend to be dominant with the right side of their brains include being more musically and artistically creative, extremely imaginative and someone who tends to look at the whole picture rather than the individual parts. What can I say? Since I’ve been researching this topic, I’ve made a lot of self-comparisons. And more times than not, I find myself nodding along in agreement with the information I’m finding on those who tend to be right-brained. I’m someone who runs on pure imagination. I try to make my daydreams into my reality, and I do so in a “think-outside-of-the-box” type of way.
If you aren’t right-brained, then you must be more of a left-brained type of person. I was always jealous of my left-brained peers throughout high school. They approach things in a very logical manner. Things such as problem solving and organization seem to almost instantly make sense for a left-brained person. Left-brainers are usually good at math and other arithmetic and are almost always focused on the task at hand.
So why are we talking about brains? We’ve been talking an a lot on the blog and around Inceptabout how to analyze efficiently. There are almost seven billion people in the world, and, naturally, that means a great number of very different individuals. With that diversity comes many different personalities and many different ways and methods to address problem solving.
Whether you are someone who looks at things in a more logical, realistic and organized type manner or a person who views situations with a more philosophical, creatively unorthodox mantra – left-brained and right-brained aside – we all have to use our whole brain when it comes to making a well-analyzed and well-informed choice. I do not have any tips, but am rather curious as to how you would answer the following questions:
- Does overbearing logic ever hinder potential creativity?
- When does creativity need to be checked by logic?
- Do you agree with the characteristics of being left-brained vs. right-brained?
- How much creativity or logic do you use in solving your own problems?
- Does being imaginative initially mean “the sky’s the limit?”
- Does being realistic have to mean you are faced with limited options?
All this talk of logic vs. creativity talk makes me want to play a good game of chess and exercise both of the hemispheres inside my head. I look at the brain as a muscle, even though it is not. If you work out, then you know that in order to keep muscle, you have to keep exercising. The same goes for your brain. You can either use it or lose it. Take some time today to think outside of the box. If you have any suggestions, you know what to do! Post them here!